Chapter 1 I'm Not the One You Remember 03
"Mobai, what do you want to eat later?"
It was just after class, and in the slightly noisy classroom, Zhou Shiqing's voice passed by gently but was ruthlessly drowned out.
However, she did not notice anything. She only packed her textbooks while searching for various delicacies in her mind. When all the textbooks were put into her backpack, the person next to her remained silent. She then realized that the other person did not hear her question. Confused, she looked at Lin Mobai and wanted to repeat the question just now, but she saw the trance in his expression.
"Mo Bai? Lin-Mo-Bai!"
So Zhou Shiqing deliberately raised the decibel level, which instantly woke up the dazed Lin Mobai.
"ah?"
"Ah what? get out of class is over, did you know?"
"Oh! Let's go then."
"What are you daydreaming about?" Zhou Shiqing sighed in silence, and then looked at her with an expression that said "you are worried about something".
"Uh, I, I was distracted for a moment." Facing Zhou Shiqing's gaze, Lin Mobai smiled awkwardly, but the melancholy in his brows was still frozen.
"Distracted?" Seeing this, Zhou Shiqing touched his chin suspiciously, " Mo Bai, has something happened to you?"
Zhou Shiqing had noticed Lin Mobai's trance since morning - first, he had dark circles under his eyes because he couldn't sleep the whole night, then he mistook his roommate's facial cleanser for toothpaste, and later he scalded his tongue on the hot porridge. Later, he didn't even see the road repair sign and almost fell into the sewer that was being repaired. This feeling of loss and loss made Zhou Shiqing feel a little worried.
"I'm fine, it's just..." Maybe Zhou Shiqing's gaze was too sharp, and Lin Mobai, who was already hiding something on his mind, suddenly felt a little at a loss.
However, after thinking for a long time, Lin Mobai still couldn't find an excuse, so she had to skip the topic, holding Zhou Shiqing's hand with one hand, touching her stomach with the other, and said with energy: "I'm just very hungry. I wonder what options are available for lunch today?"
"Are you just hungry?" Zhou Shiqing looked disgusted for a moment.
"Yeah! I'm so hungry!" Lin Mobai smiled and pulled her out of the classroom, "I wonder if the honey-glazed barbecued pork is still available at this time."
"Nonsense, that's the most popular dish. It must have been sold out while you were in a daze!" Zhou Shiqing said with a long sigh, her voice filled with resentment, "I'm afraid my favorite - spicy chicken - is also out of stock..."
Seeing Zhou Shiqing's artificially resentful expression, Lin Mobai laughed: "It's not good to eat so much spicy food."
Lin Mobai's chuckle eased Zhou Shiqing's worries. She also laughed and retorted, "Who said that? I've been eating spicy food since I was a child. Look how tender I am after eating it."
Listening to her narcissistic words, Lin Mobai chuckled again, reached out and pinched her face: "Really?"
Then, the next second, Zhou Shiqing's exaggerated scream echoed in the empty stairwell: "Lin Mobai! It hurts!"
The two of them joked, and the low pressure surrounding Lin Mobai seemed to gradually dissipate. Looking at her smile, Zhou Shiqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Until after lunch, the low pressure seemed to sweep in again, once again creating a crease between Lin Mobai's brows.
At that time, the two had just walked out of the cafeteria. Since there were no classes scheduled in the afternoon, Zhou Shiqing said with great interest: "By the way, Mo Bai, don't we have no classes in the afternoon? Let's go shopping?"
"Ah? I..." Hearing this, Lin Mobai paused, and the face of Ding Zhiyou in his memory immediately emerged in his mind, and a tingling feeling came with it.
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong?" Seeing that she was speechless and her face returned to its previous melancholy look, Zhou Shiqing couldn't help but frowned.
"Well..." Lin Mobai took a deep breath. Because of the heartache and sadness, his voice couldn't help but tremble a little. "There is something... very important. I... I have to go out."
"A very important matter?" Suspiciously, Zhou Shiqing emphasized the word "very important".
"Yeah." Lin Mobai lowered his eyelids subconsciously to hide the sadness in his eyes, and said softly, "It's very important..."
Hearing this, Zhou Shiqing pursed her lips. Even though she was curious about the so-called "very important matter" and worried about her depression that had become uncontrollable early in the morning, she knew that everyone had their own defense zone, so she did not ask too many questions and only said, "Then I'll find someone else to go. You should be careful too. Remember to go early and come back early."
"I know. You should be careful too."
"Let's go, see you tonight!"
"See you tonight!"
After saying goodbye to each other, the two turned around and left in opposite directions.
Walking alone in the sunshine, Lin Mobai lowered his head and looked at his shadow on the concrete ground. His heart was lost in memories, and sadness came suddenly like a rainstorm.
Today is Ding Zhiyou’s birthday.
It's been four years. It's been four years since she left.
I thought I had already accepted the cruel reality and that time had healed the wounds. However, the memory of countless beautiful scenes often makes me feel lost on this day every year.
As the sun sets, overlapping layers of light fill the sky.
Following the dazzling and bright afterglow of the setting sun, Lin Mobai took difficult steps and arrived at the cemetery.
She had been wandering the streets of the city for an entire afternoon, but the sadness in her heart had not been dispelled at all. Standing in front of the tombstone, looking at the smiling Ding Zhiyou in the photo, her heart ached again, and this heartache seemed to breathe, falling on every corner of her body.
"Yuzu..."
After a long while, Lin Mobai finally managed to hold back his tears, but he just whispered the title softly, and his throat choked up, and he no longer had the strength to continue.
After being silent for several minutes, she once again suppressed her inner guilt and sadness, took a deep breath, and pulled up the corners of her mouth abruptly, saying: "Youyou, happy birthday! Guess...what's your birthday present this year? You can't guess, right? This year's birthday present is...a four-leaf clover hairpin. I've been thinking about this gift for a long time. You..."
Like in previous years, Lin Mobai was immersed in chatting with "Ding Zhiyou" and chattering incessantly.
In fact, she would come to pay tribute to Ding Zhiyou on her birthday every year, but she would secretly wait until sunset every time, because she knew that Lu Yanqi and Shi Xujun would also come to pay tribute to Ding Zhiyou on this day. She also knew that they did not want to see her.
However, what Lin Mobai did not expect was that she avoided Lu Yanqi and Shi Xujun, but failed to avoid He Qingkong.
At this time, He Qingkong was hiding in a corner not far away, using the tombstones neatly arranged in the cemetery to cover his body. Even though his posture was a little awkward and difficult, he tried hard to maintain it so that Lin Mobai would not notice it.
A week ago, after Lu Yanqi's birthday, He Qingkong tactfully and deliberately asked his grandfather about the reason why Ding Zhiyou passed away. After all, his grandfather had a good relationship with Grandpa Ding and Grandpa Lin, and could give him the most objective statement. Afterwards, he took the initiative to contact Lu Yanqi and Shi Xujun, hoping to participate in the worship on the day of Ding Zhiyou's birthday.
After the worship was over, he made an excuse to stay alone, secretly hiding in a corner, silently waiting for Lin Mobai.
Not long after Lin Mobai stepped into the cemetery, He Qingkong saw her. Unlike her previous indifference in refusing to recognize him, her eyes were now filled with deep sorrow.
"Youyou, I...I saw Yanqi and Xujun."
In a trance, He Qingkong heard the names of Lu Yanqi and Shi Xujun from Lin Mobai's trembling voice. Thinking about their last reunion, he immediately pulled himself out of his memories and pricked up his ears again.
"I finally got into the school they applied for. They... they haven't changed much. By the way, Xujun is much prettier than before, and it seems that many people are chasing her. Yanqi, he is also quite popular in school, and he is no longer bullied by you like before." Lin Mobai still didn't notice the existence of He Qingkong. At this point, she fell into childhood memories, and there was a hint of anger in her tone. She continued, "But you were really rude to him at that time. If Qingkong hadn't been there, you would have been even more unscrupulous. Do you remember? Once we secretly played a water gun fight in the yard of Yanqi's house. Although we had a lot of fun, we were caught by Aunt Lu who came back suddenly. You reacted very quickly and put all the blame on Yanqi. If Qingkong hadn't come forward to admit his mistake, Yanqi might have been beaten up by Aunt Lu..."
Lin Mobai's clear words were slowly amplified in the quiet cemetery, and He Qingkong couldn't help but close his eyes and immerse himself in the precious memories she described.
Unfortunately, as her words stopped, He Qingkong, who was originally enjoying the good times, woke up in an instant.
The next moment, Lin Mobai's tears fell drop by drop on the dusty concrete ground like the drizzle in April in the south. Although the water marks disappeared in the blink of an eye, it seemed as if they had already seeped into He Qingkong's heart.
Then, before he could comfort his aching heart, He Qingkong saw Lin Mobai squatting on the ground with his hands on his knees and his head resting on them. Then, her slightly twitching crying voice filled the air: "I... I know you definitely don't want to see me, I know, I have been... sentenced to death, I... I am no longer qualified to see you, but... but I really can't control it, I... miss you... miss you so much..."
When He Qingkong heard this, his heart tightened.
In an instant, he remembered Shi Xujun's accusation, Lu Yanqi's hatred, his grandfather's concise explanation of the whole thing, the previous promises of "staying together forever", and those very beautiful memories.
It was an accident, but all the faults were blamed on an innocent and fragile girl.
Perhaps he couldn't just let it go.
Leaning to one side, He Qingkong looked at Lin Mobai who was crying softly, clenched his left hand slightly, and murmured in his heart: Youyou, if it were you, you wouldn't be able to watch it. So, there is still something I can do, right?
